Valve-motion.



PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906.

H. C. BEHR.

VALVE MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.15,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1 rm: NORRIS PETERS 60., wAsHmcroN, D. c.

No. 831,136. PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906'.

' H. c. BEHR.

VALVE MOTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.15,1906.

s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE NORRIS psrsns 70., WASHINGTON, u. c.

PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1906.

H. G. BEHR. VALVE MOTION. APPLICATION FILED MAR.15,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE mm UNTll E D- STATES PATENT @FFIGE.

HANS CHARLES BEHR, OF J OHANNESBURG, TRAN SVAAL, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO GEORGE HENRY THURSTON, OF JOHANNESBURG,

TRANSVAAL.

VALVE-MOTION Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

Application filed March 15, 1905- Serial No. 250,313.

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HANS CHARLES BEI-IR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Johannesburg, Transvaal, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Valve-Motions Specially Applicable to Winding-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to the class of positive valve-motions adapted more particularly to winding-engines.

The object of the invention is to secure the widest possible range of variation of expansion, thereby permitting easy starting with an engine smaller than would otherwise generally be required.

The invention consists, essentially, of a link operated by rods from the crank-shaft or other coincidently-rotating part of the engine, along the-length of which link adjustment can be made to secure variation of cut-off while the engine is under way; in combination with means for rotatively adjusting the eccentric or crank reciprocating one end of the link to effect reversal of the engine and also partial or entire elimination of lead and compression, so as to retard the opening and closing of the valves. 7

The invention will be more fully described by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the improved valve-gear as applied to an engine fitted with valves of the Corliss type, the cylinder being shown in section behind the gear. Fig. 2 represents a view at right angles to Fig. 1 of means for rotating, relatively to the engine crank-shaft, the crank operating one end of the link. Fig. 3 is an alternative construction for the detail illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the ap lication of the valve-gear to an ordinary D s ide-valve. Fig. 5 is a section of the slide-valve. Figs. 6 and 7 are modifications of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, which modifications may also be applied to the more complete arrangement shown in Fig. 1.

In the several figures of the drawings like letters denote like parts in so far as they rr Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, A designates the cylinder of an engine, and

A A the inlet and outlet or exhaust pipes for the motive fluid. a 00 represent the valves over the inlet or steam ports 1) b and c c the valves over the exhaust-ports d (1 B is the piston adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinder A, and B represents the piston-rod working through the stuffing-box and gland B The piston B is shown at the forward end of the cylinder A and the valves in running adjustment for this position-that is to say, the inlet-port b is open to admit the motive fluid to the front of the piston, while the exhaust-port d is open to the back of the piston B. C is the engine crank-shaft, and 0 represents the crank-pin path. D marks the position of the crank-pincorresponding to that of the piston B. E is another shaft arranged parallel with the crank-shaft C. This shaft E is rotated from the crank-shaft C by means of a toothed wheel F, Fig. 2, fixed on the crank-shaft C and a wide-toothed wheel G; mounted on shaft E. The wheel G is of the same diameter and has the same number of teeth as the wheel F. On the shaft E is formed or fixed a spiral feather h, and in the bore of the wheel G is formed a spiral groove of corresponding pitch. The wheel G is not fixed to the shaft E and is capable of sliding longitudinally thereof while remaining in mesh with the wheel F. When moved longitudinally of the shaft E, it rotates the latter by means of the spiral feather h, thereby adjusting shaft E rotatively in relation to the crank-shaft C either for the purpose of reversing the engine or varying the phases of opening and closing the valve a a c c in order to facilitate starting. On the shaft E is fixed a small crank e, which serves for operating the valve-gear from shaft E. The arrow D in Fig. 1 indicates the direction of rotation as determined by the position f of the crank c. If the pin fwere moved into the position indicated at f the direction of rotation of the crank-shaft C would be reversed.

The mechanism shown and described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 for rotating the crank or arm 6 was chosen for the purpose of illustration on account of its simplicity and the elearness with which its functions can be described and illustrated and because it does not obscure the other parts in connection with which it operates. This construction each otherby the links X Y. Z'.. For the pury t. befi-suj tab e a lsaseai y other suitable gear for accomplishing this same purpose mav be used. It would prob- X ably be found. preferable in most cases of ac- .5' tual practice to employ anotherwell-known device like that illustrated in Fig. 3. In the arrangement illustrated in this figure the wheels F G do not mesh with each other, but the" wheel G is fixed on the shaft E and i ris driven from wheel F through the inter-- mediate wheels V and W, the centers of .which are connected and maintained equi- .distantfrom the wheels F and G and from? 5; pose of reversing the engine the chain of links lX Y-Z, withthe wheels V and W, are moved j into the position X Y ZiV W thereby ro-j V ita'ting th-eWheelG Wltlltll shaft E and thef rlrzrank e, withwhich shaft E the wheel G lSg wfrigidly' connected. The approximate extreme rotation accomplished in this way by? ,either of the devices described or by any equivalent mechanism takes place approxi-; mately between such limits as indicated by 5 g and g in Figs. 1 and 2, if the path of ad-,

justment is over are g f f g and between} limits f f 2 'if'the adjustment is over the'arcl g 9 For these limits the valves open a lit-j tle later than the beginning and close slightly 3before the completion of the piston-strokef This afiords conditions for easy starting of a} double engin'e with'cranks at right. anglesf, like an ordinaryv winding-engine. In such; engines equippedwith ordinary valve-gear it;

,mustbeborne' in mind not only that one en-j gine may' been the dead-center when start-j 'ing, and that'tlierefore only one'full crank is;

I :jthen available for this purpose, but, also that{ there'a're other positions of either crank be-j 4 J fore it reaches the dead-centerff'orwhich the "admission-valves are beyond the point of} latest cut-off and cannot, therefore," admit steam to the cylinder, and thereby aid the:

' "other crank, which latter being at a consider-5 ably less angle than ninetydegreesfrom the c enterfline acts ata much reduced leverage. It is f'to' ienablestearn'. to be admitted to thatj I :cylinde'r whose valves are normally pastthe pointof latest cut-off that the extra rotative,

'S- fadjustment from f to 'g or from f 2 to g is provided, because thereby the valves are: forced to close later duringthe stroke'of the? engine. As soon as the engine is under; way 'i.fie., after, say, one revolutionthe' 5 5 f wheel G is slidback, so 'as to cause the shaft E'to rotate ahead from the position g or g to f or f, which latter is the normal position, for running, givingwapp'roximately constant lead for all ranges of cut-off. The actual displacements in Fig. 2 corresponding to the angular ones in Fig, '1 are denoted by the same eaters-namely," f f g( 9 It is evident 'that the rotative' adjustment of 6 can also be made over the other part of the circle, in

which case the pin f passes over the positions .as the hand-lever t. v, In order to impart the motion of the points f 9, or g to the valves, there is interreversal from "one position f f 2 of adjustment for normal running to the other, f 2 or f The axial displacement of the wheel G is performed in any-convenient manner, as through the medium ofithearms t t engaging the collar j by means of the pins 7c. The arms 7 t are fixed on the shaft H, which may be operated by any convenient means,.such (See Figs. 1, 2, and 3.)

.IpLosed intermediate mechanism consisting of rods and links. The rod I is connected at gone end to the pin f in crank e and at the Zother to the pin Z in the lower endtof a curved 7 ilink J, suspended by the upper end at p from a, link Q, pivoted to the engine-frame at q,

ed an eccentric L, the rod K of which is piv- {On the engine crank-shaft C there is mounteccentric L is so placed that it will impart to I ,the upper end of the link J a motion approxi- {rnately proportional to that of the piston 13,

or, morecorre'ctly, to the projected path of the crank-pin D on the center line of the env I I 10f: the center, of the upper endof thelink J is fapproximately equalto the distance from its central position of a pin f in crank c When in gine." The extent of the motion a't'each side fposition ff or f at which distance the pin w l adjusted for" running conditions when the engine crank-pin D is on the dead-center. j

:By this arrangement constant or approximately constant'lead for all grades of expan si'on can besecured 1 The valves are operated in the case illusi trated from the link J through a system of rods and wrist-plates, like in a Corliss gear, with separate independently-operated Wristplates for inlet and exhaust valves, In this 'case'the Zr'od M' operates the inlet-valves through ,wrist-plate O and rods 00 acflwhile the rod N operates the exhaust-valves through wrist plate P and'rods y y 'f- The rodN is pivoted ftothe link J ato. 'Thewrist-platesjQ P, are

pivoted at U; '1 The rod'M',jactuat ing the in- 1 3 flet-valves, is pivotedat n to a block m, fitted to slide in'the slot oflink J j For the purpose 'of varying the expansion the block m, with end of rod M, is adjustedalong the slot of the link, the cut-off being the earlier the nearer the block is tothe point p, where the' eccen tric-rod K'ispivoted to the link. The adjustment of block m along J 'may be performed by a hand-lever u, as shown, through the medium of shaft T, lever S, and link R, 'attachedat z to arms and at a" to rod j 'The hand adjustment may evidently be replaced by automatic adjustment, as by an ordinary centrifugal governor, as shown at U in'connection with Figs. '1 and 4, Uf'is a belt for driving the governor throughpulley its U and bevel-Wheels U from theengine crank-shaft O. U is a lever pivoted at a 'to expansion,

the engine-frame and at the other end attached, by means of link a", to lever u fixed on shaft T. The lever U, between the point of attachment to the engineframe,and the link a, is attached to the governor, as indicated at a. The motion of the governor transmitted through the lever a and link a to lever a by rotating the shaft T actuates the rod M through the lever S and link It in a similar manner to the hand-lever u, as pre viously described.

The case illustrated represents a type of the most perfect valve operation-that is to say, one in which the variation of expansion by adjustment of the admission valve-rod M along the link J does not affect the periods of opening and closing of the exhaust-valves, as would be the case were the exhaust-valves operated from the same point of the link J as the inlet-valves. This latter condition would be similar to the case of an ordinary single plain slide-valve controlling exhaust and operated by a Stephenson linkmotion. In Figs. 4 and 5 I illustrate the application of the invention to a plain slidevalve. In this case the rod N would be omitted and rod M connected directly to the rod M of the slide-valve M It is also possible to modify the gear described in various ways. For example, the link B may be pivoted at z to a fixed point and not to an arm S, and the link J, with rods K, I, and N, might be adjusted vertically to effect variation of the rod M then remaining practically in alinement, as shown in Fig. 6, or the rod M and the link J, with attached rods, might be moved in opposite directions, like in the Allan link-motion, as shown applied to this invention in Fig. 7. All such variations I also consider mere modifications of arrangement of my invention.

The valve-gear has drawings applied to engines liss valves and an ordinary D slide-valve; but it will be evident that it may be adapted with equal facility for flat slide-valves or pistonvalves.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the valves and comprising a rocking link and a rod moved by said link and pivotally connected at one of its ends therewith, means for longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, reversing-gear for the engine, connections controlled by said reversing-gear for independently adjust ing the position of one end of said link and means actuated by the engine for rocking the link.

2. In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the valves and comprising a rocking link and a rod moved by said link and pivotally connected at one of its ends therewith, and means for been shown in the fitted with Corlongitudinally adjusting both inlet and said rod end and link relatively, reversinggear for the engine, connections controlled by said reversing-gear for independently adjusting the position of one end of the said link and means controlled by the engine for imparting to one end of the link a motion proportional to that of the projection of the engine-crank-pin path on the center line of the engine.

3. In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the valves, and comprising a rock ing link and a rod moved by said link and pivotally connected at one of its ends therewith, means for longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, reversing-gear for the engine, a movable rod controlled by said reversing-gear and leading to one end 0 said link for independently adjusting said end, and connections including a rod operated by the engine for imparting rocking movements to the link aforesaid.

4. In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the valves and comprising a rocking link and a rod moved by said link and pivotally connected at one of its ends therewith, means for longitudinally adjusting the said rod end and link relatively, reversinggear for the engine, a movable rod controlled by said reversing-gear, and leading to one end of said link for independently adjusting said end, and a movable rod controlled by the engine and connected with the other end of said link.

5. In an engine valve+motion, means for actuating the valves and comprising a rocking link and a rod moved by said link and pivotally connected at one of its ends therewith, means for longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, reversing-gear for the engine, and a part connected therewith and rotated by the engine crank-shaft, a movable rod connected with said rotatable art and leading to one end of said link for independently adjusting said end, and a movable rod also controlled by said crankshaft and connected with the other end of said link.

6. In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the admission and exhaust valves of an engine, comprising a rocking link and a rod leading from the admission-valves an pivotally connected at one of its ends with the link, means for longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, a rod leading to the exhaust-valves, and at one of its ends pivotally connected to a fixed point of the link, reversing-gear for the engine, connections controlledby said reversing-gear for independently adjusting the position of one end of said link, and means controlled by the engine for rocking the link.

7. In an engine valvemotion, means for actuating the admission-valves of an en ine, means independent of those first named for actuating the exhaust-valves of an engine, a

rod leading to the first-named means and I means controlled by the engine for independpivotally connected at one of its ends with a link, means for longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, a rod leading to the aforesaid eXhaust-valve-operating means connected at one end to a fixed point of the link, reversing-gear for the engine, connections controlled by said reversing-gear for independently adjusting the position of one end of said link, and means controlled by the engine for rocking the link.

In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the admission-valves of an engine, means independent of those first named for actuating the exhaust-valves of an engine, a rod leading to the first-named means and pivotally connected at one of its ends with the link, means for longitudinally adjusting the said rod end and link relatively, a rod leading to the aforesaid eXhaust-valve-operating means pivotally connected at one of its ends with a fixed point of the link, reversinggear for the engine, and a part connected therewith and rotated by the engine crankshaft, a movable rod connected with said rotatable part, and leading to said link and ently rocking the link.

In an engine valve-motion, means for actuating the admission-valves of an engine,

means independent of those first-named for actuating the exhaust-valves of said engine, a rod leading to the first-named means and pivotally connected at one of its ends with a link, means for'longitudinally adjusting said rod end and link relatively, a rod leading to the aforesaid eXhaust-valve-operating means and pivotally connected with a fixed point of the link, reversing-gear for the engine, and a part connected therewith and rotated by the engine crank-shaft, a movable rod connected with said rotatable part, and leading to one end ofsaid link, and a movable rod also controlled by said crank-shaft and connected with the other end of said link.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HANS CHARLES BEHR. Witnesses:

CHAS. OVENDALE, R. OVENDALE. 

